Columbia sits across the Susquehanna River from Wrightsville and was saved when the Wrightsville bridge was burned. The text from the marker below describes the action- “It was June of 1863. The Confederate Army had taken York and was preparing to cross the Susquehanna River by capturing the bridge that linked Wrightsville and Columbia, overtake Lancaster and advance to Harrisburg. Several hundred Union troops in retreat from York, a number already wounded, joined the Pennsylvania Militia and set up defenses near the Wrightsville bridge on the western side of the Susquehanna. Their force was strengthened by a valiant Black militia company. Still, they were outnumbered by more than a thousand men and had to abandon their defenses and retreat across the bridge. A desperate plan was put into action. The Wrightsville-Columbia Bridge, key to local commerce and communications, would be sacrificed. Union forces wired a span of the structure to blow up, but the explosion was not strong enough to do the task. The order to burn the bridge was then given by Colonel Jacob Frick, and proved effective. The efforts of the Pennsylvania Militia at the Susquehanna River towns spared Lancaster and slowed the advance of the Confederates towards Harrisburg.”

The marker below like many of this type in PA is severely weathered. It is clearer at the link.

The view from the marker of the river is shown below.

The tablet below is at the visitor center- 40.03875, -76.5058

Since my last visit here eight small tablet markers have been added to the cemetery. They include: United States Colored Troops; The Hair Suicide Case; Doctress Hannah Bosley; Fifth Street Colored School; The Columbia Race Riots; William Baker/Harriett Ann Baker; Free African American Communities in Columbia; and the History of Zion Hill Cemetery.

View from the sidewalk near Rotary Park looking west across the bridge toward Wrightsville.

The marker below is very weathered. The upper part reads “In 1726 Quaker John Wright built a log house in an area first granted to George Beale by William Penn 25 years earlier. Wright established a ferry at this natural crossing point on the Susquehanna in 1730. Originally known as Wright’s Ferry, the town’s formal layout occurred in 1788. Citizens renamed it Columbia in honor of Columbus hoping the new name would influence Congress in 1790 to name it the nation’s capital, but it fell one vote short. In 1814 Columbia became an incorporated Borough, formed out of Hempfield Township. Settlers were English, Scotch, Irish, African-American, and German. The town became an important transportation hub with roads canals and railroads radiating outward. Escaping slaves seeking freedom passed through the town on their way to more northern states, Canada and greater safety. During the Civil War retiring Union forces burned the mile-long covered bridge halting advancing Confederates on the western shore at Wrightsville. By 1900 the town had grown to over 12,000 residents. Industries produced diverse products including silk goods, lace, pipe, laundry machinery, stoves, iron toys, flour, lumber, and wagons. Today Columbia residents work not only in industries and shops in town, but also in near-by communities.